Carbonic acid dissolution

Limestone dissolves under the action of rainwater and groundwater charged with H2CO3 (carbonic acid) and naturally occurring organic acids. The dissolution process produces a distinctive landform known as karst, characterized by sinkholes, and underground drainage. Solutional caves in this landform—topography are often called karst caves.

Cave

A cave or cavern is a hollow place in the ground, especially a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. Caves form naturally by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word cave can also refer to much smaller openings such as sea caves, rock shelters, and grottos.

Types and formation

The formation and development of caves is known as speleogenesis. Caves are formed by various geologic processes and can be variable sizes. These may involve a combination of chemical processes, erosion from water, tectonic forces, microorganisms, pressure, and atmospheric influences.

It is estimated that the maximum depth of a cave cannot be more than 3,000 metres (9,800ft) due to the pressure of overlying rocks. For karst caves the maximum depth is determined on the basis of the lower limit of karst forming processes, coinciding with the base of the soluble carbonate rocks.

Carbonic acid dissolution

Limestone dissolves under the action of rainwater and groundwater charged with H2CO3 (carbonic acid) and naturally occurring organic acids. The dissolution process produces a distinctive landform known as karst, characterized by sinkholes, and underground drainage. Solutional caves in this landform—topography are often called karst caves.

Six weeks after observing gasoline odors, local, state and federal experts continue to search for the source of an expected gasoline leak in the Lost RiverCave area ...Bowling Green’s investigation is complex because the city sits atop a karst landscape of sinkholes and caves ... Eventually, the city’s watershed flows into the Barren River and beyond ... ....

A human jawbone found in a cave on the Tibetan Plateau has revealed new details about the appearance and lifestyle of a mysterious ancient species called Denisovans ... The fossil was discovered by a monk in Baishiya KarstCave on the Tibetan Plateau in China’sGansu province....

Sometimes it’s the simple things – walking into a creek, building structures from recycled cans, petting a slimy salamander – that really make an impact ...Lost RiverCave staff created a station focused on karst geology. At the end of the lesson, the staff demonstrated water pouring through cave bedrock and ending up in the water we drink ... ....

This Denisovan mandible was discovered nearly 40 years ago by a monk who was wandering through Baishiya KarstCave in Xiahe, China... The entrance to Baishiya KarstCave, with Buddhist ornamentation ... At the same time, archaeologists should head back into Baishiya KarstCave to search ......

Four decades ago, a monk went to pray at a limestone cave 2 miles above sea level in the Tibetan Plateau... He took the bone from the cave, and his village gave it to scientists working in the area, who stored the jawbone in an archaeological collection ... The site, Baishiya KarstCave in Xiahe, China, is at an altitude of 10,800 feet....

Four decades ago, a monk came to pray at a limestone cave two miles above sea level in the Tibetan Plateau... He took the bone from the cave, and his village gave it to scientists working in the area, who stored the jawbone in an archaeological collection ... The site, Baishiya KarstCave in Xiahe, China, is at an altitude of 3,280 meters, or 10,800 feet....

In 1980, a Tibetan monk entered the holy Baishiya Karstcave to pray ... But Baishiya Karstcave (which means means "white cliff" in Chinese) is more than 1,400 miles from there. Baishiya Karstcave in Tibet ... The opening of the Baishiya Karstcave is about 16 feet high and 23 feet wide....

The right half of the mandible was found in the Baishiya KarstCave in 1980. A recent excavation revealed the presence of abundant Palaeolithic stone artefacts and cut-marked animal bones in the Bashiya KarstCave....